Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Window on Eurasia: Russia Needs Not Just a Nationalities Ministry but a Nationalities Chamber in the Parliament, Vormsbekher Says

Paul
Goble

Staunton, November 12 – Because of
the problems the Russian Federation faces with ethnic issues in the wake of the
Crimean annexation, Gugo Vormsbekher, a Russian German commentator, says,
Moscow needs to re-establish both a Ministry for Nationality Affairs and a
Chamber of Nationalities as the third house of its parliament.

Moscow must
recognize, he suggests, that “the nationality question in Russia in terms of
its extent and significance is comparable to questions of economics and
security. Would it be possible to guarantee the defense of the country without
even having a ministry of defense?” The same is true of nationality issues.

The ministry of culture has a role to play,
Vormsbekher acknowledges, but the nationality issue is much larger than just
culture, and “today,” he argues, “it is time to approach it as to other issues
of the existence of the state: that is, in a state manner.” That will involve
at a minimum three steps.

First, he says, Moscow must
create a third house in the Russian parliament on the lines of the Council of
Nationalities of Soviet times, “where all the peoples of the country not only
will be represented but will be able to discuss and solve their problems
together.” Such a move will eliminate “many tensions and breathe new life into
nationality policy.”

Second, Moscow must restore
the Ministry for Nationality Affairs which will be given charge or and held responsible
for “the national health of the peoples and the country. And third, Moscow must
come up with a clearly defined nationality policy so that each people will know
how it fits into the broader civic population.

These three changes are
needed, Vormsbekher says, so that “Russia will again be a prominent example in
nationality policy, in the spirit of the Crimean spring and not in the spirit
of the American ‘melting pot’” and will be able to fully rehabilitate all the
punished peoples of the country as a whole.

Justice requires that
Moscow fully rehabilitate the Russian Germans who at present are the only
punished people who have not been entirely rehabilitated, a step that would
reflect the fact that they “did so much for the establishment of the Russian
state.” Indeed, after the Russians, they did more than anyone else.

Taking that step would not
be hard: there are many ways to achieve it and Germany would certainly be
interested in helping as would the CIS countries. Indeed, restoring a German
autonomy could attract new and highly skilled workers to Russia. And
Wormsbekher says, it should be done this year.

In addition to all the
other anniversaries being marked in 2014, this year, he points out, is the 250th
anniversary of the arrival of the first German colonists in Russia.